Co-writers: 1. David Holt 2. 3. 4. 5. Deb Here: Where is your Works Cited "page"?
Economics Rectified?
"A great time to be alive?" is an article written by Matt Yglesias, focused on the recession and offers Matt's prospective solutions for the economic turmoil that America faces. In this article the author attempts to make the argument that the tax system being restructured, by altering the current tax bracket to include more levels on the wealthier end, and redistributing the taxes gained from these alterations will create a more even playing field, so-to-speak, for future generations by creating opportunities that the poorer children would otherwise lack. Matt argues that in this economic situation the proper response is to raise taxes on both the upper echelons and middle echelons of income levels. The author presents this solution as though it were the only viable starting point for rectifying the economic turbulence that the US is facing. Through out the article the author presents this as though it were common sense. Matt's first claim is that the simple solution this issue is to allow the government to raise the tax standards and apply a more efficient means of assigning tax brackets. Matt states that "the government can and should deploy it's tax authority to capture a larger share of this wealth and spend it on useful services for the broad public."(Yglasias, 464-465). The assumption that the author makes here is that the Government will spend this newly generated income on "useful services." He makes the argument that by creating revenue for the government they can in turn create services such as better childcare and schools available to the general population. Although, this is a potentially prosperous idea it fails to identify the a couple of impediments to this plan of action. The author lies out this potential solution which would be viable except that any excess revenue would be applied to the current debt that has helped create the recession. The second impediment to this solution is that in order for it to be effective the amount of revenue that would be necessary would be astronomical and raising taxes simply would not be able to begin to cover it no matter how well organized the tax bracket system is. "The Goal should be a country where every neighborhood features safe, well-paved streets, excellent schools, functioning mass transit, and a healthy environment."(Yglasias, 465). The author proposes that this will not create a massive change in the social classes in that "those with skills more highly valued"(Yglasias, 465) will still have greater luxuries and that the major changes will be that of the necessary conditions for people to "flourish."
The ideal society that Matt is proposing would be brought about through "highly successful" programs such as Social Security or Medicare. Matt quotes these as examples of government redistribution taking place successfully, but these programs have both been effected by the same recession and are faltering. Matt uses these two programs as an example and creates a stumbling block for himself. These two programs have declined in efficiency as of late and therefore work against his argument that the government has the capability of sustaining similar programs. This is a poor choice of example that damages his arguments credibility. Though the idea is not unattainable, it requires more development than is offered through this article. The system that he proposes goes based off of the assumption that the money that is procured will be spent appropriately and therefore lacks a check and balance system.
The author states that these programs cannot be funded solely on the taxes of the the wealthiest alone but that the $250,000 and over tax bracket would be the ideal starting place (Yglasias, 465). Here he quotes "polls," that states that the public does not oppose tax raises in relation to the rich (Yglasias, 465) but, doesn't specify what polls or whether they are recent or even where the data was retrieved from. The lack of identification of these polls leaves questionable credentials of these "polls." They don't really affirm his point very well given that the reader does not know whether or not they are reliable.
The next subject the author approaches is the current tax bracket system. Matt writes that creating more tax brackets at the upper echelons of wealth will create a more ideal method of extracting the appropriate amount of taxes from various income level individuals. This is a well thought idea and probably has the most credence out of the entire argument. It places a level of feasibility into his proposal. He also offers a few suggestions for alternate tax generation techniques, such as greenhouse gas taxes, or inclining the alcohol taxes (Yglasias, 465). These seem logical, but again, he provides no realistic application methods, or check and balance systems.
The author argues for better early childhood education stating that this will be a good starting point for rectifying inequality. The goal is that through providing first class beginning education to all children and not just those that belong to families that can afford it the children have a greater opportunity to succeed therefore creating a more stable economy and a more sustainable wealth system that is not discriminatory based on previous generations levels of wealth.
The author proposes a way to create a more balanced economy with the general population having all of the opportunities that the wealthy have that is quite enticing. The author has a general theory that needs a lot more development. It lacks sufficient evidence, as well as, the proper checks and balances necessary to succeed. The author provides very little actual data on how these programs he suggests would work and whether or not they are feasible. This article leaves too many questions unanswered and makes too many assumptions leaving it sounding more like an opinionated article than an educated solution that would be a realistic response to the issues that the author addresses.
Work Cited
Yglesias, Matt. "A Great Time to Be Alive?" Writing in the Disciplines 7th ed. Brad Potthoff. New York: Pearson Education, Inc. 2012. pg 464-466. Print.
1. David Holt
2.
3.
4.
5.
Deb Here: Where is your Works Cited "page"?
Economics Rectified?
"A great time to be alive?" is an article written by Matt Yglesias, focused on the recession and offers Matt's prospective solutions for the economic turmoil that America faces. In this article the author attempts to make the argument that the tax system being restructured, by altering the current tax bracket to include more levels on the wealthier end, and redistributing the taxes gained from these alterations will create a more even playing field, so-to-speak, for future generations by creating opportunities that the poorer children would otherwise lack. Matt argues that in this economic situation the proper response is to raise taxes on both the upper echelons and middle echelons of income levels. The author presents this solution as though it were the only viable starting point for rectifying the economic turbulence that the US is facing. Through out the article the author presents this as though it were common sense.
Matt's first claim is that the simple solution this issue is to allow the government to raise the tax standards and apply a more efficient means of assigning tax brackets. Matt states that "the government can and should deploy it's tax authority to capture a larger share of this wealth and spend it on useful services for the broad public."(Yglasias, 464-465). The assumption that the author makes here is that the Government will spend this newly generated income on "useful services." He makes the argument that by creating revenue for the government they can in turn create services such as better childcare and schools available to the general population. Although, this is a potentially prosperous idea it fails to identify the a couple of impediments to this plan of action. The author lies out this potential solution which would be viable except that any excess revenue would be applied to the current debt that has helped create the recession. The second impediment to this solution is that in order for it to be effective the amount of revenue that would be necessary would be astronomical and raising taxes simply would not be able to begin to cover it no matter how well organized the tax bracket system is. "The Goal should be a country where every neighborhood features safe, well-paved streets, excellent schools, functioning mass transit, and a healthy environment."(Yglasias, 465). The author proposes that this will not create a massive change in the social classes in that "those with skills more highly valued"(Yglasias, 465) will still have greater luxuries and that the major changes will be that of the necessary conditions for people to "flourish."
The ideal society that Matt is proposing would be brought about through "highly successful" programs such as Social Security or Medicare. Matt quotes these as examples of government redistribution taking place successfully, but these programs have both been effected by the same recession and are faltering. Matt uses these two programs as an example and creates a stumbling block for himself. These two programs have declined in efficiency as of late and therefore work against his argument that the government has the capability of sustaining similar programs. This is a poor choice of example that damages his arguments credibility. Though the idea is not unattainable, it requires more development than is offered through this article. The system that he proposes goes based off of the assumption that the money that is procured will be spent appropriately and therefore lacks a check and balance system.
The author states that these programs cannot be funded solely on the taxes of the the wealthiest alone but that the $250,000 and over tax bracket would be the ideal starting place
(Yglasias, 465). Here he quotes "polls," that states that the public does not oppose tax raises in relation to the rich (Yglasias, 465) but, doesn't specify what polls or whether they are recent or even where the data was retrieved from. The lack of identification of these polls leaves questionable credentials of these "polls." They don't really affirm his point very well given that the reader does not know whether or not they are reliable.
The next subject the author approaches is the current tax bracket system. Matt writes that creating more tax brackets at the upper echelons of wealth will create a more ideal method of extracting the appropriate amount of taxes from various income level individuals. This is a well thought idea and probably has the most credence out of the entire argument. It places a level of feasibility into his proposal. He also offers a few suggestions for alternate tax generation techniques, such as greenhouse gas taxes, or inclining the alcohol taxes
(Yglasias, 465). These seem logical, but again, he provides no realistic application methods, or check and balance systems.
The author argues for better early childhood education stating that this will be a good starting point for rectifying inequality. The goal is that through providing first class beginning education to all children and not just those that belong to families that can afford it the children have a greater opportunity to succeed therefore creating a more stable economy and a more sustainable wealth system that is not discriminatory based on previous generations levels of wealth.
The author proposes a way to create a more balanced economy with the general population having all of the opportunities that the wealthy have that is quite enticing. The author has a general theory that needs a lot more development. It lacks sufficient evidence, as well as, the proper checks and balances necessary to succeed. The author provides very little actual data on how these programs he suggests would work and whether or not they are feasible. This article leaves too many questions unanswered and makes too many assumptions leaving it sounding more like an opinionated article than an educated solution that would be a realistic response to the issues that the author addresses.
Work Cited
Yglesias, Matt. "A Great Time to Be Alive?" Writing in the Disciplines 7th ed. Brad Potthoff. New York: Pearson Education, Inc. 2012. pg 464-466. Print.